Themes

Movies portray many different themes. A theme is the elements that surround a certain thing, which a film the elements are used, using Mis-en-Scene. Such as using lighting, characters and settings.
For example for a film with a romantic theme, the light would be soft and the settings would be great scenes of romance, such as Paris or London.

Types of themed films

Action
Action is a fast paced idea to achieve a long term goal. In Action there is a set off who we should be the characters people are rotating for (The heroes) and which characters where against. There would be a three act set up. A begging, the set up, the shots here would be slower more establishing. The middle, this is maybe where the  fight scene ( A fight scene is where the "Good Guys " vs "Bad Guys" have a fight, this contains a few special effects) the ending, the heroes wins and the final lines are profound. The story could end on a cliffhanger if it's theirs a squeal.

Action are fast pace and the shots are quick to excite the audience, the special effects are very quick. Part of the reason that Action is so popular with audiences is that the fights seem so extra ordinary. Audiences are taken out of reality, and invasive within the action, they rooting for the hero. However Action films have developed more over time, the directors who make good choices look outside of what there audiences want and look at characters and story arcs rather than just fighting and effects. Movies in the Marvel universe make a excellent job of making action films developed and can hold large audiences of all ages and genders.

Romantic comedy
A romantic comedy has the elements of romance but it is not so serious about it. The romantic comedy is about usually two characters who are mostly heterosexual , of significant different finding each other in a funny situation. These character have a lot of conflict because of the differences between the characters.
Mostly the female role is the "Sensible" she is uptight, harsh and obsessed with her job. However there have been romantic comedy that do not use this trope. Movies like Enchanted whose leading lady is more sweet and strange.  The male role is usually comically stupid and confident, he in very bad romantic comedy's can sometimes even be very sexist.  The plot goes though a old story tropes, the pair meet and go though a series of inconsiderable circumstances, which at one point a lie or a misunderstanding happens which starts a series of sad scenes on loneliness, and the man/women trying to get the other person back. The last scenes will e the couple realizing that they are in fact in love with each other.

Indie
An Indie film, is an independent film and that is outside any major film studios. That are produced by independent film companies. This means that the films don't have a fanbase to appease, most Indie films are quite strange in the quality. The films are always bizarre but because they aren't made for a certain type of audience. The film markers have more of a free range in there product, as they don't have a repetition
(Such as Disney, child friendly content) to up hold. However because they are not large companies there have a higher chance of their film not working because of the lower budget.
Examples of Indie films:
Donnie Darko
Pulp Fiction
Memeonto
Little Miss Sunshine
Submarine

Horror
Horror as a genre is used to shock and scary the audience. In my experience I think that there are two types of Horror.  One type of Horror film is psychological horror, where it plays with the mind of the audience. They use different technical elements, such as Low Key lighting to cast shadows over the movie scene. Draw in audiences with ideas about what might be happening. Films such as Psycho and the Shining manage to do this. They use the idea of something horrible and scary without showing the main blood and gore. They does this by uses a type of different cuts which go very quick, such as the famous shower scene in psycho, where the cuts show an attacker killing someone, but do not show her being kill. In the modern age, the horror movies are full of blood and gore. This is used to gross out the audience more, as it toys with the idea that they will also die in honorific ways. Some people that Horror Movies have declined in resent years and that most horror movies as full of pointless violence and the characters are flatter.
However it could be argued that because of developments Horror movies now look more realistic thus making it seem more scary as this audience believes that the violence will happen to them.
To create Horror, films need to make sure the characters don't make it out okay. The sense of danger of the characters not winning is thrilling to the audience, but is more realistic.

Adventure
An exciting story, an Adventure film always has some sort of quest or aim to complete. The adventure film should always be an enjoyable experience for the view. Very much like an Action film, an Adventure has the same set up. Heros vs Villains and a three part story arc. What makes Adventure different from an action fill is the conflict is not the main point of the film. Adventure also does not contain as may fist scenes as an action. Adventure films can usually be enjoyed by anyone of all ages, however Adventure films biggest
audiences are children, as the Adventure film is quick and always keeps people on their toes about whats going to happen next. Adventure films are usually shot with high key lighting and quick and clear shots. This ensures that the adventure film is nice to look at and easy to follow.  Adventure films can also be animated, as the amount of movement and special effects is now a wider range. Disney and Dreamworks are the biggest companies in terms of films like this. This is because there animation is reconcilable and stories can be remembered  easily. Disney has perfected there animation and story telling over generations, as well as it's amount of money being so large that there films are perfected and animated beautifully. While Dream-works stories are usually full of new inventive ideas and more comedy.

Information; shots

This is a reference to use in my written work.

Openings that I enjoy

 Hot Fuzz
Opening timing: 1:46
Hot Fuzz is a satirical idea of mainstream America Cop, movies mixing in the stereotypes of the police force and the realism of the hard work and dedication behind that, it explores modern cops films as well as the distention of the mind always in of criminal  justices. It is nicely rapped up in a comedic idea of the stereotypes of the West country and small towns imagine of the 'perfect life', the beautiful and skills using foreshadowing, always using tiny details which the audience will see more of after more viewings. The climax is action packed, and has the height of hilarity that will have the audience really laughing all the way  thought. The climax has an underlining feelings of the exception of modern life and peoples thrust to have a more exciting life, that they will even go to violent means to get this. A very enjoyable and delightful movie, that I would show others maybe a few more times.

The Opening itself.

I enjoy this opening because of it's shots and fast paced opening.It uses a series of panned and tilted shots, as well as Close ups on Nichols face, gives the audience a sense of who the character was and his motivation.
 It shows Nichols Angle fixation on being with the police force by showing him do excellent in his academic  studies, while the shots give the impression of a usual action movie, having a lot of close ups and cuts. The editing is sweetly accompanied by the sound of  fast paced music, a mix of guitar and smooth jazz really set the tone of fast paced and quick line delivery, as well as some diegetic sound sounds to add simple realism; which fit nicely in to the films gaps in the music score.
The most interesting thing about this opening, is the story of his police career, is a very boring story, made exciting by the quick way of his delivery and the juxtaposition of the flashing images of dramatic violent work he has to do.
What I like most about the opening  is it's simple sets up the character and the story, which expresses his enjoyment of his work, the determination in his voice as he riddles off his life. Ever second is like a racing heart beat, which is a contrast as the rest of Hot Fuzz is a satire of modern testosterone fulled actions police films, which ignore the realism.

The opening is humorous, exciting and sets the tone for the film. It's shot well and the acting is on point.When I come on to develop and make my film I will use this films editing and character establishing as an example.

Character proflies

These are the character profiles.

The cat -Fluff age- unknown, Scottish.

In our recreation is a wise cracking impatient animal, he sits in the box prudes over Ed decisions, moodily. We will create this by the actor will use sarcasm in his voice, in the film the actors costume is grey and has a little black dot on his nose to comely show that he is a cat.  The actor is slightly robust, having to squeeze into the costume. In our recreation we will have are actor dressed in a cat coat and use make up to create the feline quality. The actor will also have Fluff humor and cruelty towards Ed.
 The cat shall be played Poppy Frost.


Ed- 21, young adult, Irish

The secondary character is Ed, he is a pickle and wants to more on with his life, he is aggressive and acts childishly towards his cat. He has an ore of awkwardness around him, implying how he might  like her, in are productions we shall make the actor act frustration and awkwardness. His hair is quite long which luckily for us, this can be a problem for us as it Jamie's hair but the character will not have to look that exact same.
His outfit is very simple, just a pair of jeans and a simple green coat, which will recreate the using a coat and a pair of jeans however these might not be the right colour. He will be played by Jamie McGregor.




Amelia, young Adult, 22, Scottish 

The only female in the short film is Amelia, she is a very kind women, she has confidence in her character, however she speaks quickly, she also is very kind towards animals, we will show her kindness in her voice , and her smiles.
She wears just a simple black coat, which we will get for are actress.
Her hair is straighten, however delightfully messy because of weather inflictions, Becky's hair is slightly too short however, we shall brush this to make it look as long as possible.
 This character will be played by Becky Stevens.

Location - Video diary

I thought, that I could explain the location of our recreation via video diary:

The video is off me explaining why we would your Harry's Hallway with will be our Location. As it is the hallway is very similar to the films setting, and has enough room to do the main filming.  

This is our location; which our main prop in it; the hallway is shown to be well lite and the right size for filming. 

Story board

This is a shot by shot story board which has been taken for the video itself, the shots are an important aspect of the film as they show off the movie and can change the theme and sense of character. This is a comedic short film so the budget for the film will be reduced so the shots are not that extensive. 

Mid shot
Meet character; Ed; doesn't have any dialogue.

OSS-Over the shoulder shot.
Meet the Cat, Fluff. Dialogue starts

OSS- to show the audience pov






CS- Close Up
Exchange in conversation.





CS- Close Up shot
Get a idea of what's the cat is like







MCU
Showing the argument

CS
To show the cat being angry




  CS- To show Ed child

CS
To show the conversation

Cs-Too show him leaving

CS- Too show the girls emotions

CS- To show contrasting humour.








CS-

WS- wide shot-
To show all three characters interaction and motivation.

OSS
Show the comedy.






To recreate the movie perfectly, the camera might have to be moved a lot which will take up a lot of time,
as this short films work on the idea of quick sharp dialogue, shot in a traditional way with the shots being simple one after the other, each in POV, then the film shall have to take many different shots to really get the full effect of the film and it's emotions in the takes and shot.
 

Romeo and Juilet Mis-en-sceme

In class, we looked at re updated version of Romeo and Juliet, directed Baz Luhrmann, and how it using Mis-en-scene

In this scene we had to look at this elements of film:
.
Setting
The setting t was is in America, in the 90s. So this meant that the film set was surrounded by  large, America buildings to give the setting a sense of over crowding. The set also has pam trees to give a feeling of the hot sun, which has a consternation of the over bearing heat in the time of day that it is set, this interludes to heating action which will take place after the establishing shots.
The setting also shows the modernism of the old play, as like Veronia it's is unbearable hot and the conflict at the gas station is a intimation of the dangerous battle grounds that would have taken place in the original play.   This is shown in the scene which imitates the hot and a overbearing buildings of the Italy were the play is originally set, the setting is only two place ( the streets of sunny America and the conflict of the gas station.) However the sets is used like a canves were the action is projected on itself. The station is intensely recognizable and simple so the action seems even more tight and blood thirsty, it makes us think off old gun shot outs.  
The next cut is uses the patrol station like a battle grown, which indicates that some conflict will take place here.


Props:
The props used are they to characterizes and show off their theme of the film. The large props like the guns are an important as they address the swords used in the original idea of the play. the guns are coloured white and silver which hints at the professionalism witch highlights the fights better the two families. The cars which are used are also to give an idea of the characters. With the Capulates using royal blue. The connotation of which is them being like royalty, which signifies to the audience that they are a high class. In contrast the other family (the Montauges ) have a flurried bright yellow car, which suggests that they are childish and under class, the position of these cars in this opening are in a side by side, which suggests they are in a gun shot out, to update battles of the time of the plays origin. The props are quite large, which suggests the conflict to an audience. The colours are

Costume:
There is great diversity, but still have a 90s edge. The family we see the first the Montague  boys, all wearing some maybe silly wear, it contrasts with the strong religious symbolism of the cross jewelry  all wore with dignity and suggest that even in mondern versions this is still an important aspect of the boys life here. The stereotypical Hawaiian t-shirt, not only showing the temperature of the city but also the personality of being easy going and relaxed. The choice for this is done to see the boys class ( working) and they attitude ( relaxed). their basic outfits are mixed up with smaller details, such as one of the men having piecing and the other having glories bight pink hair. I think the costume designer chose this so that the audience would understand that the Montague  boys
lower class statues and that they against authority. In the opposite side of things the other boys wear tight suits. The dark shows how that they upper class, renascent of a old mob, the connotation of this is that they  classy but however violent, clearly experienced with fights.

Film editing

This is a useful video I found to help with Video editing.

This was really helpful of understanding the basics of editing.

Script for are re-creation

My beast friend.

The script for the re creation. 

*ED walks in the hallway, carrying a load of boxes. The cat, Fluff is sitting in one of the boxes mumbling and looking at his note.*

FLUFF: Pl- Plea- Please... ED!, tell me whats going on right now or I’m going to sick up all of yesterdays tuna. *Coughing up noise* Oh no, it’s that girl isn't it, AMELIA, you’re mad. She’s weird!

ED: This has nothing to do with Amelia, *Strokes hair* I just wanted to sort my life out, ya know, get rid of some of the dead wood. So, I’m going to take you to this great fun place just for cats. Yeah, just after I finish tidying up. It’s called. Pleasure land!

FLUFF: *amazed* Pleasure land?, sweet. But not before time!

*Door bell rings, AMELIA enters,*

AMELIA: *in a rush* I’m so sorry Ed, I know I’m super early! *sees  Fluff* Oh my god who's this?

ED: *hesitantly* That’s Fluff.

AMELIA: *Reading* Free to good home. Some monster, abandoned this sweet little creature?

*AMELIA Strokes the cat, and picks it up. AMELIA sees a actual cat while, ED sees a guy in a cat costume.*

Well, Fluff, I guess that makes me your new mummy now.

FLUFF: *To Ed* Ya lying cu-  (cunt) *Cut out*

*Credits roll. *

 

Openings to student films

Now I'm looking at some openings made by people doing Media studies, which I have found on Youtube, these have all been made by people my age.


The Masksman 

(Warning this contains some strong Language and Violence)
This opening is for an action thriller, this is shown by the tight editing and dramatic music in the background.
At the start of this it shows the ending of the opening, which trills the audiences, which is a guy in the gang having to kill his friend, this ends with a gun shot. Then is go back 20  minutes to show why this happened.
This shows a gang being followed by a masksman and his subordinate, giving evidence that the film will be conflict between these two groups.
 The shots are all on the outside, which could be problematic for the sound quality, however they editing software makes it all work, the music is dramatic instrumental which adds a serious effect, it gives evidence that the scenes are getting more violent. A favorite part of  this opening was how the music and title were edited together, the music became a large action piece, while the title was edited, in a silver large text which let the audience know what scale the film was going to be.
Good points of the opening:
.Music,
.Editing,
.Gives a good idea of the plot

Points I'd work on:
.The acting,
.A clearer idea of what they wanted to say in the film

The Edge 

This opening was very interesting to me, not only was the camera and editing was superb, the camera used having a  greenish tint making it lot surreal and foreshadowing something amazing. The second thing which was important in this opening to me was the fact in had no dialogue or  diegetic sounds. The opening has a simple structure  of a young boy being chased by two older men in suits, this intermediately gives the audience a lot of questions and builds up the drama. This opening was fantastic and the editing was done almost professional. The colour and setting choices  were also well thought out, the contrasting blacks and whites made the film simple but also gave an illusion of being against the authority of the system, which is also implied where the main protagonist escaping the men in the suits.
Good points:
The music, electronic music really fitted with the pace and feeling on the movie.
The sharp well thought out editing which made the story easy to follow.
The simplicity on the story
The suspense of the story it  being so unknown that the audience is incline to find out more.

I don't have any negative points about this opening, it has been done really well and I hope that I can make something like it myself.

Analysis of openings

What an opening should be:
The opening of a film should give the audience a sense of what the film is about and draw in the audience. It should be edited simply and still really show off the films characters and general. To make this I think that do this a director must show the theme with the choice in music, setting and decide which characters should be shown, it could be done in a flash foreword style of narrative, such as Easy A and Molin Rouge or they can just do a montage with a select song from the soundtrack.

Professional made films made openings:

This is England.
Director: Shane Meadows

This opening starts with quick cuts with really show off the 1980s culture and most important parts of that decade, the films uses a mix of happy joyful news such as weddings, and depressing violence of gangs. The film then goes into a close up shot of a young boy waking up, the setting around him is grey and quite common, I think that they used this to show the git of the film and the fact the film looks at the working class. The dialogue is plentiful, we get introduced to the main character straight away, for the opening scenes, who is a young boy. The theme is shown though the rough dialogue and the rough setting, showing it's dark rough idea of the film.
 The shots are next are wide, showing the education, then a fight breaks out between two boys, showing the friction of teenagers at this time, and foreshadows the conflict with will be relevant in the film.


My week with Marilyn
Director: Simon Curtis

This opening showed the famous Marilyn in a golden dress, showing Marilyn as her famous self and how she was adored by others, the camera then pans to show that she is being watched on the scene by a lot of men, which shows are main character, fore-showing that they will meet later on. We get introduced to the main character straight away, showing him to be mesmerised by Marilyn's beauty.
 The setting shows a traditional English home, which gives the impression of an upper class stereotypical England. We see this during a flashback narration, a choice as it was based on a true life story in the past, I think it was also used to draw in audiences to find out what happened with the young man and the famous actress.I thought the opening was slow however, it didn't really show what was going to happen, and the pacing was a little boring as most of the time was taken to establish characters.

Submarine
Director: Richard Ayoade 

This film opens with the main character looking solemnly on the weekday, the shot shows his bedroom with dark lighting. The room is very blue, with posters on the wall. It gives evidence of the characters mode, being that of sadness. Then it leads itself to a narration, where Oliver (the main character) talks about something profound, while the camera goes round the town in Wales where the setting is, showing a dark blue sea and sweet small British white town homes.
The opening is short and sweet, which shows the main character being a bit out of the ordinary.

My Beast Friend (short film)

In the media class we were put in to groups to re make a short film (Max.3 mins), each person in the group had different role and we re did the script and chose people to be the characters;
This will be the short film that Me, Becca , Harry and Poppy will be re creating.

The film is 2.17 mins. and is a odd comedy, it has three characters and a cat.
Plot
The story centers around a man (played by Ed Burn) who sees his cat  (Raymond Mears) as a real person dressed up, the cat is always making sharp and annoying comments at Ed expense, to stop these Ed wants to give Fluff (The cat ) away so he can live his own life. During the short film he lies to the cat, telling him he'll take him to a place called "Pleasure Land", however before he does so, a young women enters (Lucy Goldie) whom it's apparent Ed has a crush on, and feels sorry for the cat takes him off Eds hands as she see him as a real cat.


List of props:
Boxes, Card, Cat costume, Picture frames.

List of characters :
Amelia (Young women)
Fluff the cat (Person dressed up)
Ed (Young man)
an actual cat.

Place to film:
Somebodies hall way.
(Harry's)

favourite film

"A brain, a princess, an athlete , a basket case and a criminal, does that answer your question, sincerely yours , The Breakfast Club."

Year made: 1985
Director: John Hughes


I think the Breakfast Club is one of my favorite films because of the dialogue. From the quick humor of the scripts sarcastic's dark under tone to the depressing and heart felt monologues of the characters in secrets, I feel like everyone who has gone though the ups and downs of high school adolescents can relate and it touches on a profound messages which many people have while growing up. Even though it was made before I was born, I think that every line is still relevant today. The characters are all memorable. Even though they are they stereotypes, the characters are still original, they have a heart warming quality.


What I find practically interesting is that most is shot in one location, all in one room. There are other places but there a few and far between, the setting is the school large library, the halls, a couple of classes and the outside of the high school.

                                          The famous library scene, which captures the ideology
                                           of high schoolers.

The characters is what make the movie, as the shots are more simple. The costumes are also something of wonder as well. The are simple costumes which show off the time and character.
The girls (Claire and Allison) have contrasting clothing colours. Little details are what really pay off in this film. Such as the eye rings given to Bender ( Judd Nelson).

                                          The sweet ending scene which shows the couple Bender
                                          and Claire, which shows the innocents of young teenage love.
                                       

The shots of the film are also very good artistic choices, they are all very remembered by audiences, the school setting gives the film a naturalistic feel, engaging the audience, who if adults would jog there memory.
The characters would also let audiences relate, to there struggle of individuality and the ignorance of the adults and teachers around them.    

Overall I find this to be my favorite movie as the dialogue, the characters and the beautiful music score really hits hard and is the most relatable movie I've seen.

This is Emily Frosdicks Media Studies Blog!

The sound in Romeo and Juliet

1. Music
The music score has an all together western feel, this gives the effect of a gun fight, the music going with the conflict and making it more exciting.
The main music score juxtaposes with the fun , rebellious song in the first shot. What is strange about this is that the music is both part Diagetic  and Non Diagetic. What is meant by that is. The director, used the song to sound like it was playing in the car. This gives the effects more of the type of characters the Mountuges  are. This being fun loving, manly individuals with a love for being a public annoyance. The change happens half way though, it is shown that the music gets louder encompassing the film, while the it stays on a freeze frame, establishing who the characters are.
When the main conflict happens the music weaves in and out of the scene. This is because the there are moments in the conflict that the needs to be more of an atmospheric idea of the film and to make the important character building dialogue. For example when Tybalt mentions he is against the idea of peace, the music is not there, making that statement encompassed in silence, making it more effective.
As in the perviors statement the film music uses soft gutiras and flutes to recreate a gun show theme, to go with the ideas from Shakespeare's original play, creating the effect of the exciting.

2. Dialogue
The director, Luhrmann, decided to re updated Romeo and Juliet, however keep the language the same, so that the film would seem more special and enriched with literature. However the way the language is spoken has updated. Such as the way the character speak faster and chopper, unlike the romantic way  which is used in the original theater. The dialogue also depends on the type of character is it. For example the member of the Cauplet house is a much smoother character, so the way he speaks is slower.
The words help the plot go along and help build characters.

Sound FX
There is not a lot to say about Sound FX, the most important thing is that, the effects are over the top so it highlights the large conflict situation. For example the scene is tense, which is heighten by the over the top sound effects. For example the Jacket in the wind, has a large sound effect which is not realistic. This adds to the film being on a grand scale. The Special FX make the film very interesting because they are very out of the ordinary.